In the past year, Candy Crush Saga has been downloaded some 500 million times and played more than 150 billion times. The game got off to a slow start as an online game two years ago, but after some design changes expressly intended to thwart players tempted to put it down, it has become a global phenomenon--popular everywhere from Brazil to Hong Kong. It is the first game of the smartphone era to top the most-downloaded charts for Apple iOS, Google Android and Facebook simultaneously.

The rules of play are simple: line up three candies of the same color and repeat. But within that basic premise, Candy Crush's maker, a London-based software company called King, has devised an apparatus that is almost frighteningly effective at turning new players into fanatics--and making money too. Which is a particularly sweet trick considering that Candy Crush is free to download and free to play.

“They'll hear a holiday greeting from Santa in his workshop at the North Pole. We'll also email you a recording of your child's wish list that you can share with family and friends. It's a great way to make memories and spread holiday cheer.”

Starting at 5 p.m. EST on December 24, you can call the number again to follow Santa and his reindeer on their journey, as they deliver gifts around the world.

And live near a Taubman Mall (like Willow Bend in Plano, TX or Fair Oaks in Fairfax, VA) you may want to take them to the Microsoft sponsored Ice Palace

“Featuring a 30-foot ice dome with falling snow, a light show and interactive fun for all ages, this year the free exhibit also delights with a 360-degree arctic immersion, via breathtaking video footage from BBC Earth and its award-winning program, Frozen Planet. Visitors can also marvel at the larger-than-life snow globes, leave an icy handprint and sit on the chilly Ice Throne. The icy adventure culminates with a visit to Santa and a special gift.”

And while you wait for the kids grownups can check out the Surface 2 and some Nokia products that Microsoft has on display.

In most versions of the current model, customer payment data are stored on the Internet for access via smartphone applications, such as the mobile version of PayPal’s site or specialized apps developed by a particular merchant. Starbucks(SBUX) customers can download the company’s app to their phone, load it with a credit or debit card, then pay at most of the coffee chain’s 11,437 U.S. locations by opening the app and waving their phone under a scanner. The company says more than 11 percent of payments in the U.S. and Canada are now made with mobile devices, thanks in part to a discounts and rewards program.

Other merchants have toyed with variations on that model. The 26,000 U.S. locations of sandwich chain Subway don’t have specialized barcode scanners, but their registers can print barcodes for a customer with the company’s app to scan with a phone camera and use to authorize an online payment. Chipotle Mexican Grill’s (CMG) app lets customers order from the road to avoid standing in the chain’s serpentine lunch-hour lines. Besides reducing barriers to payment, this can give retailers a much better way to contact a customer—and a closer look at her long-term behavior, says Richard Crone, chief executive officer of payment advisory firm Crone Consulting. “The real value is that they now know who their customer is and can reach out to them at any time,” he says.

I have written about previous GE versions of the sleigh. This year “GE scientists are turning to the crowd and the power of 3D printing to design a whole new sleigh for Santa that will ensure he makes all of his deliveries this holiday season.”

In the meantime, as more of holiday gift requests and fulfillments flow through ecommerce sites BusinessWeek describes Santa's other sleigh

"At mighty Amazon, the omniscient computer program that practically runs the company’s supply chain is known internally as the Mechanical Sensei. The program tracks all the items and orders coursing through Amazon’s systems. It makes millions of small decisions, such as how much of a particular product Amazon should buy, and—given the geographic dynamic of demand for that particular —where in its massive network of fulfillment centers to store it.'

Apple, IBM, Dell, Facebook, Google, and dozens of other tech companies have large operations in Ireland. The country is also home to hundreds of startups. The three-car chartered train -- one of Phelan's many ideas -- transported about 50 mostly Irish startup execs, as well as venture capitalists from Luxembourg, New York, and Ireland, to the summit, an annual two-day tech conference in Dublin. This year's event drew about 10,000 people, including SpaceX's Elon Musk and Skype founder Niklas Zennström, who engaged in 48 hours of frenzied networking and dealmaking.

Occipital has developed apps that allow people to scan objects in 3-D by walking around them, and to scan entire rooms. One shows how the sensor can enable augmented reality, where virtual imagery is overlaid onto the real world when seen through a viewfinder. In that app, a person plays fetch with a virtual cat by throwing a virtual ball that bounces realistically off real-world objects

Whether you plan to line up at midnight outside your favorite big-box store or prefer to score online deals in your PJs, the mass of deals and sales on Black Friday can overwhelm even the savviest of shoppers.

Fortunately, your smartphone is all you need to make sure you get the very best prices on everything on your holiday shopping list. Download these essential apps (like Amazon Price Check in photo) while the turkey is in the oven and prepare to save.